Harvard Blues
Written by: Chelsey Hawkins, Uhuru Plaatjies
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has had a successful election with their gaining over 5% of votes since 2009. One would think that they would keep their current team but the nation was shocked to read in the Sunday Times that parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko has decided to take a break from the party to further her studies at Harvard University in the United States..
On May 11, 2014, the DA’s parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, announced to a newspaper of her departure from the party and her big opportunity further her studies at Harvard University in the United States. Mazibuko has studied at both the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the University of Cape Town, one two of the best universities on the continent. Many might say that Sshe has already gone through the country’s best, so going further is not a bad idea. , many say. This could be one of the biggest opportunities in her livfees, but many people seemed to have responded otherwise negatively to the sudden announcement.
On May 11, 2014, the DA’s parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, announced to a newspaper of her departure from the party and her big opportunity further her studies at Harvard University in the United States. Mazibuko has studied at both the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the University of Cape Town, one two of the best universities on the continent. Many might say that Sshe has already gone through the country’s best, so going further is not a bad idea. , many say. This could be one of the biggest opportunities she could one can get take in their her livfees, but many people seemed to have responded otherwise negatively to the sudden announcement.
Elements of Tthe public started asking many questions about why she would suddenly leave after the elections concluded. Was she running from something or someone? How can she abandon her responsibilities as a leader? Would this mean she’d be completely replaced, and also would Will she return to the DA after concluding her studies? She Mazibuko states that she will make her comeback to the DA leadership after concluding her studies.
The announcement came as a bigger shock to party’s leader Helen Zille, as Lindiwe Mazibuko decided not to announce it to her (Zilletell her) before speaking to the press but to newspapers first. The week after has been nothing but back and forth hearsay from both sides and it seems that this it is not the end of it…
The responses
Many people took to social media and to giveave their opinion on what has been developing recently, asking Mazibuko a dozens of questions such as why she would leave now, when the party was doing great, but. She she never responded back to anybody’s questions and never said anything on the day of the big announcement,, except for replying to one individual - Fikile Mbalula.
Fikile Mbalula, South African Minister of Sport and Recreation, is known for occasionally causing quite a stir on Twitter, nowadays and he doesn’t mind when it comes to discussing the DA, he is definitely no different. It was just a few weeks ago that he had a bit of a Twitter-war with Zille, in which he, basically showeding what type of person he is when it comes down to debates. This time it was no different, as he revealed his true colours by persisting on asserting the ‘real’ reason why that Mazibuko decided to leave the country party:
“Lindiwe had a public fallout with Helen Zille last year over the Employment Equity Act, suddenly now she is going to university.,” Mbalula tweeted. He went on to say that what she is doing is simply implementing an exit -strategy by, with the means of running away from the racism displayed by Zille over the years:. “Lindiwe is an intelligent young woman used by a racist political party as a weapon of mass destruction., ” Mbalula tweeted again. “I’m not campaigning, just telling the truth, there’s nothing wrong with studies, it’s a better option than to stay and be tormented by racists.,” he added.
Many have said that Lindiwe’s departure echoed the description of Zille Helen as 'quite the racist' , citing with comments made via her Helen running her own Twitter account., one can tell how she is with the things she has stated. She’s accused mentioned that black people were only of pulayinglling the ‘race card’ in many situations and also, has stated expressed rather peculiar things towards black Twitter-users. In a Twitter war about Cape Town’s racism, Helen Zille was mentioned in a lot of these questions. She has responded aggressively to a lot of users, including celebrities whom have too fallen victim to the racism. Simphiwe Dana, a South African musician, addressed took Zille on the issue. After Dana told her that she has the opportunity to change racism and should do so, things turned a little sour : Zille responded with ''You're a highly respected black professional. Don't try to be a professional black. It demeans you’.” Eyebrows were raised as people wondered at what this could have possibly meant, and it was ever since that members of the public have dubbed Zille a subliminal racist. Mbalula made sure when he mentioned Mazibuko’s “escape strategy” to he touched on the topic of Zille’s alleged being a racismt. when he mentioned Mazibuko’s ‘exit strategy’.
Mazibuko’s Lindiwe’s response to his statements was simply: “Don't be sad, Razzmatazz. It's only one year. But I will miss you too!”… making him look a little sad and bitter about her sudden departure.
The Zille-Mazibuko story
Zille’s The response that shocked many peopleeveryone was shocked at was that of Lindiwe’s superior, Helen Zille. The leader of the opposition party had not initially made any no comments about Mazibuko’s departure, but rumours of a falling out started to were floating that the two had another fallout, resulting on her deciding to leave. Fikile Mbalula’s statement was not of help with them trying to shut down rumourshelped flame this particular story.
On Sunday, 18 May 2014, Tthe Sunday Times released information about Zille allegedly claiming to have ‘made’ Mazibuko and having to ‘save’d her on many occasions. It was also implied that Mazibuko was incompetent and had been out of her depth. She Zille finally posted on Twitter stating the following: “I don't mind being excoriated for things I did say, but not for things I didn't. My newsletter, later today, will set the record straight.”
Helen Zille and Lindiwe Mazibuko have had fallouts clashed in the past, for example around the course of last year whenre they couldn’t decide on a vote surrounding for the Employment Equity Amendment Bill. The issue highlighted tension in the DA, possibly making it this possibly harder for the two leaders them to get along during the elections. Although their campaigning wasn't complete waste and they gained more votes, it points out seems that there could have been more tension under the surface.
One cannot forget the time Julius Malema called Lindiwe Mazibuko ‘“the tea girl to the madam”’ when he requested a debate between himself and Zille, but got an offer to go against Mazibuko instead.: “I was never asked to debate Lindiwe ... She’s a nobody, she’s a tea girl of the madam. I’m not debating with the service of the madam.,” he said, referring to DA leader Helen Zille. The statement caused quite a stir and some people have questioned Lindiwe being under Helenthe DA’s leadership dynamic. It never seemed to end and now rumours have since surfacedrisen again saying that Mazibuko could’ve indeed have been a somewhat slave to undermined and under-estimated by Zille and that Harvard this was simply her way out.
Rumour has it that there have been more arguments between the two, making this one of the reasons why Mazibuko decided on leaving – it seems going to Harvard is a ‘great’ excuse, after all. Zille tried to shut down theseall rumours in her newsletter ,where she states by claiming that the newspaper claims she made had made a ‘concoction of leaks’ from the Federal meeting that was held days before:.
“I did not say I 'made' her and I did not say I 'saved' her. I certainly did not say that she would be 'nothing without me', as the Sunday Times headline falsely claims.,” she wrote in the newsletter. She also mentioned asserted that she at no stage attacked Mazibuko, but was only stating the facts.
The internal struggle
With all the rumours surrounding Lindiwe Mazibuko’s sabbatical year at Harvard, many have started to question what could have driven her to this decision and whether or not it is linked to an internal struggle within the party.
Mazibuko withdrew from the DA’s list of candidates after the elections, announcing she will be taking a year’s sabbatical leave to further her studies at Harvard University in the U.S. Many questioned her motives for doing so and taking an in depth look into the DA. It seems there may have been a power struggle between Mazibuko and Mmusi Maimane, the DA’s Gauteng Premiere candidate, for the party’s leader in Parliament.
It still remains unclear who exactly will fill her spot as the DA’s Parliamentary leader. Maimane is the Prime Candidate for the position and it seems he has the best chance of becoming the DA’s next Parliamentary leader. There was a good chance that even if Mazibuko had not left for Harvard that she would have been outvoted for the role and Maimane would have replaced her. After differing with Zille on the party’s position on the Employment Equity Amendment Bill, Mazibuko and Zille drifted even further apart. It seems like she lost the support of the party leader and that Zille is rather backing Maimane. A Member of Parliament (MP) went on to say that DA MP was “not supporting Lindiwe in the first place; they were merely supporting Helen’s choice. She is no longer Helen’s choice”.
Did Mazibuko realise this and move on to greener pastures? A reporter wrote that Helen Zille had said in the recent Federal Executive meeting that she had ‘made’ Lindiwe and saved her numerous times, while making it appear as though Helen was making an attack against Mazibuko. Zille denied these reports, calling them “devoid of truth”. She went on to respond to this with a newsletter on the DA’s website, saying: “I conceded that I had worked very hard to promote Lindiwe’s career. In fact, I said I had never done as much to promote any person’s career in the DA before. This is an objective, evidence-based fact”. Thereafter she requested meeting with Sunday Times and the Business Day to go further with the matter.
In an interview with Beeld Newspaper, Zille did however say that Mazibuko would not have been re-elected, “she [Lindiwe] knew it and many other people knew it”. Mazibuko was offered the Gauteng premier candidate position, but declined, leaving the Gauteng candidate slot open for Maimane. Zille was quoted in this interview saying that she is “certain that [Harvard] was her [Lindiwe’s] plan B,”
Mazibuko’s sudden departure has ignited further conflict within the DA in the past week. Zille is aware that if she had to announce her intention to retire at this point, it would only intensify the faction forming in the party. Multiple senior DA members told Beeld newspaper about a deliberate attempt amongst DA leaders to put an end to any chance Maimane has of becoming parliamentary leader, as well as to prevent Helen Zille from being leader of the party for another term. These senior members however, defended Zille, confirming the false claims of “made” or “saved” Mazibuko. These quotes were untrue and they stood by Zille in this case.
Sources revealed that Zille has given her blessing to Maimane to become the next leader in Parliament, adding that she has also given him her blessing to succeed her, which displeased many as they felt it’s “undemocratic”. The faction is now placing doubt in Helen as a leader, hoping that she will fall together with Maimane. The new leader in Parliament will be elected on the 29th of May.
With all the rumours surrounding Lindiwe Mazibuko’s sabbatical year at Harvard, many have started to question what could have driven her to this decision and whether or not it is linked to an internal struggle within the party.
Mazibuko withdrew from the DA’s list of candidates after the elections, announcing she will be taking a year’s sabbatical leave to further her studies at Harvard University in the U.S. Many questioned her motives for doing so and taking an in depth look into the DA. It seems there may have been an internal power struggle between Mazibuko and Mmusi Maimane, the DA’s Gauteng pPremiere candidate, for the role of being the party’s leader in Parliament.
It still remains unclear who exactly will fill her spot as the DA’s pParliamentary leader. Maimane is the Pprime Ccandidate for the position and it seems he has the best chance of becoming the DA’s next Parliamentary leader. There was a good chance that, even if Mazibuko had not left for Harvard, that she would have been out-voted for the role and Maimane would have replaced her. After differing with Zille on the party’s position on the Employment Equity Amendment Bill, Mazibuko and Zille drifted even further apart. It seems like she lost the support of the party leader and that Zille is rather backing appears to back Maimane. An unnamed Member of Parliament (MP) went on to say that DA MPs was were ‘“not supporting Lindiwe in the first place; they were merely supporting Helen’s choice. She is no longer Helen’s choice”’.
In an interview with Beeld Newspaper, Zille did however say that Mazibuko would not have been re-elected:, “she She [Lindiwe] knew it and many other people knew it.”. Mazibuko was offered the Gauteng premier candidate position, but declined, leaving the Gauteng candidate slot open for Maimane. Zille was quoted in this interview assaying that she is ‘“certain that [Harvard] was her [Lindiwe’s] plan B.,”’
Mazibuko’s sudden departure has started an internal conflict within the DA in the past week. Zille is aware that if she had to announce her intention to retire at this point, it would only intensify the factions forming in the party. Multiple senior DA members told Beeld newspaper about a deliberate attempt amongst DA leaders to put an end to any chance Maimane has of becoming parliamentary leader, as well as an attempt to prevent Zille from being leader of the party for another term. These senior members still defended Zille, confirming that claims of ‘made’ or ‘saved’ were false and that she was misquoted.
Sources revealed claim that Zille has given her blessing to Maimane and suggested that he to become the next DA leader in Parliament , adding that she has also given him and maybe even succeed herher blessing to succeed her, which displeased many as they felt that this would be it’s “‘undemocratic”’. Thise faction is now placing doubts Zille doubt in Helen as a leader, and hopes hoping that she will faill, together with Maimane.
The new DA leader in Parliament will be elected on the 29th of May.